A Change of Heart
by Shaliel Larkspur
Summary: "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." Draco Malfoy makes a fateful decision to change his character and finds a new beginning. DMxHP. SLASH. Set after Deathly Hallows.


**A CHANGE OF HEART**

**"****_Be more concerned with your character than your reputation,_**___because your character is what you _really_ are, while your reputation is merely what others _think_ you are."_

Disclaimers: I do not own anything created by JK Rowling, nor do I write this for profit. I write because I love to and JK's characters lead me to creative bouts of insanity.

Warnings: Slash, language, mature content, some violence, mild sex. Please do not read if any of this makes you uncomfortable.

0*0*0*0

"Mother….what would you say if I told you that I didn't want to go back to Hogwarts this year?"

"I would say that you don't have a choice in the matter as you are demanded to go back by the Ministry as part of your probation." Was the short reply from the slender blond woman on the other side of the breakfast table.

"What if I said that I would rather go to Azkaban than spend another year at that forsaken school?"

Narcissa scowled at her son and set down her morning paper, tapping her fingernails against the polished wood of the table for a moment before answering. "Draco, you are going back to school and there will be no more questions or objections on the matter. I have already lost your father to that filthy prison and I am not going to lose you to it as well."

Draco frowned and slouched back in his chair, just managing to keep himself from crossing his arms over his chest like a small child throwing a fit. His mother gave him a look to which he replied to by looking away, though he still sat up a little straighter; poor posture was not becoming of a Malfoy.

"I really don't want to go back there." Draco said after a moment, bringing his attention back to his mother. "Can't I go to another school? Or be home schooled? I'm sure we could find some tutors that would be willing to teach me what I need to know to take my NEWTS."

Narcissa shook her head as she looked at her son. "Draco…no tutor is going to come here and you know that very well. The name Malfoy doesn't hold the power that it did before the fall of The Dark Lord. Not only that but aren't you forgetting that we don't have the resources we once did? The Ministry has all but claimed our fortune, save for a small amount, as reparation payments for those that suffered through the War." She paused to take a sip of her coffee and watch her son's reaction to her words. "You won't be going to another school either as it was the Minister's decision for you to attend that school you helped bring down. It's part of your punishment Draco."

"I was under orders to let the Death Eaters in! Voldemort would have killed us if I hadn't done it!" Draco protested with a loud slap to the table with the palm of his hand.

His mother narrowed her eyes at him. "Do not raise your voice at me Draco for it is not I that you need to be angry at."

Draco ducked his head and clenched his hand against the table. "I know…I'm sorry mother. I just…I know what's going to happen once I'm there. Everyone is going to hate me and none of my friends are going back. I'm going to be alone." He knew he was whining but he couldn't help it.

"You are going to have to deal with it Draco." Narcissa's voice was stern but even Draco could hear the undertone of concern. "I know that you are wary of returning to Hogwarts but you must make the best of it. Keep your head down and stay focused on your studies. Don't stir up trouble when there is no trouble. You won't have your friends to back you up and you are going to need to be stronger than you are now to get through this." She smiled softly then and reached across the table to take her son's hand. "I know that you want to rebel against what must happen but you must not."

"I know."

"Good." Narcissa let go of her son's hand and sat back in her chair. "Now finish your breakfast and get your trunk packed…the train leaves in less than three hours and I will not have you late or miss it. Your probation officer will be waiting for us there to make sure that you are on the train, and I do not want to give him any reason to take you away from me."

0*0*0*0

Draco watched as the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform 9 ¾ and scowled resentfully at it; only to be pinched by his mother when she caught him doing so. He ignored her and folded his arms over his chest, looking away at the same time. Right now he didn't care what she thought because he was here just like he said he would be, trunk packed and all. He had even been courteous to his probation officer and not said one word out of line. What more could his Mother ask of him really? Was he supposed to be jumping for joy like the first years he had seen? Should he be happy that he was going to a place where he would more than likely have to spend every waking moment studying or watching his back? Should he be happy that he was leaving the only person who loved him?

"Not bloody happening." He muttered under his breath.

His mother turned her attention to him once again. "Draco do not mutter to yourself. You are a Malfoy and you should act as such."

Draco glared daggers at her but gave one quick nod of his head to let her know that he understood, though privately he thought that he would mutter to himself all he wanted to when he was back at school.

As Narcissa watched her son the train let out a sharp whistle, signalling that departure was fast approaching. Draco huffed and straightened his shoulders before turning to his mother. "See you at Christmas then." His voice was clipped and tight but he didn't care. Turning from her Draco started to walk away but was caught by the wrist so that he had to stop.

"Draco do not be like this." His mother came around to face him, her mouth set in a thin line and her eyes hard. "I am not sending you away to the butchers nor am I sending you away because I do not love you."

"I know that mother, but thank you for the reminder."

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before letting out a soft sigh with a slight shake of her head. "Draco… you act as though I am doing you a great wrong by complying with what has been decided."

The train whistled sharply again and Draco saw that most of the students had already boarded, leaving only himself and a few other stragglers behind.

"Mother I need to go." He pulled away from her and took a step back. "Goodbye."

With that he walked around her and used the fact that he had a long stride to get away from her as quickly as he could before she could say anything more to him. He hated leaving on bad terms but he was still angry at being sent back to the one place on Earth he didn't want to be, though he knew that it wasn't her fault at all.

_Once things are settled at school I'll owl her and let her know that everything is alright and that I'm sorry_, he thought to himself as he stepped aboard the train.

As he had been one of the last ones to get on there were few and far between choices for seats and most compartments were already full with giggling girls or rowdy boys. Draco heaved an inward sigh and kept walking until he found what he thought was an empty compartment, seeing as how he could see no one inside. Shrugging his shoulders he stepped inside and was about to turn to close the door when someone crashed into him.

"Watch where you're going!" He spat out, not in the mood to be run over by some crazed student.

"Sorry…didn't see you there Malfoy."

Draco blinked and then let out an exasperated sigh. "I should have known it would be you trying to bowl me over Potter."

The shorter wizard looked up at him from under his messy fringe and narrowed his eyes. "Well it wasn't as if I was expecting you to be standing right in the doorway."

"I was about to shut the door you bloody twit."

"Well by all means shut it now if you want to." Potter replied as he edged around Draco and took a seat next to the window.

"You can't sit in here."

Potter frowned at him. "Why the hell not? Your name isn't written on everything in here Malfoy."

"You just can't."

"Too bloody bad."

Draco shook his head and was about to leave when he was hit with a sudden thought. "Where are your minions?"

"I don't have minions."

"Your hoard of adoring fans then."

"Don't have any of those either." Potter said as he made himself more comfortable on the seat. "If you're trying to ask about Ron and Hermione though that would be none of your business."

Narrowing his eyes at the other teenager Draco made an annoyed sound before turning to leave.

"You know…I'm not going to bite you if you sit in here Malfoy." Potter's voice sounded out from behind him. "Besides, there aren't any more free compartments and I know you don't want to go and sit with the first years."

"Maybe I do." Draco shot back even though he had stopped moving.

Potter snorted. "You're a shite liar sometimes you know that right? Just sit down…here; I'll even make it easy for you." Draco didn't even have time to react before the shorter wizard was standing next to him and pulling him backwards, shutting the door at the same time before pushing him back into the empty seat. "There… better?"

Draco just blinked at him for a moment before he replied. "Did you just manhandle me Potter?"

"Yep." The grin on Potters face made Draco want to hit him.

"Don't ever do that again." Draco crossed his arms and legs, glaring at the other teen. "No one is allowed to touch me unless I say that it's okay to do so. Got that wonder boy?"

Potter gave him a two finger salute before sitting down himself. "Why are you so touchy all the time?"

"Why are you so dense all the time?" Draco countered.

"Probably because most of my childhood was spent living under the stairs."

Draco sneered at him for that one. "Nice try Potter."

He watched as the other wizard shrugged and looked out the window. "Believe what you want to believe Malfoy. Doesn't matter to me one little bit."

Rolling his eyes Draco went about getting comfortable for the long ride back to Hogwarts; which consisted mostly of taking his outer jacket off and folding it neatly beside him before taking out one of the books he had been carrying in his satchel. It was one that he usually kept hidden from his parents since it was written by a muggle author, and under no circumstances were muggle books allowed at the Manor. Draco had read it at least a dozen times before but he never tired of it and read it as frequently as he wanted to; hell, he could probably recite a whole chapter without pause by this point.

He had only read a few pages though before Potter was speaking again. "What are you reading?"

"A book."

"Obviously." Potter replied. "What's it called?"

"Why should I tell you?"

There was no reply and Draco thought that maybe Potter had given up bothering him already, so he looked up from the pages to find that Potter had his head tilted at an extreme angle to see the cover of the book. "Oh for Merlin's sake Potter!" He held the book up so that the other teen could read the cover.

"Drawing Blood?"

"Well at least I know you can read."

"Sod off." Potter snapped. "Isn't that a muggle book? Why are you reading something that was written by a muggle?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Uh… yes, since you've claimed for years that muggles are worthless and should have never been allowed to live."

Draco rolled his eyes. "People change."

"People do change… but not Malfoys." Potter smirked at him and leaned back against his seat once again. "So why _are_ you reading it?"

It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes as he set the book down. "I want to read it okay?"

"Is it any good? I've never heard of the author before."

"Do you ever stop asking questions?" Draco asked in a terse voice.

Potter grinned back him. "Do you always avoid answering questions?"

"You are beyond annoying, do you know that?"

"Takes an annoying person to know one."

Draco frowned. "That doesn't even make sense Potter, even your minions can come up with something better than that when they're around."

"Don't call them minions Malfoy."

"I will call them whatever I want."

Potter glared at him and huffed before turning his attention back to the window, leaving Draco alone to finally begin reading again. He thought that it would be easy to just block Potter out from his attention and focus on the words written, but after about ten minutes he was still on the same page staring at the same word. Slamming the worn out book shut he set it aside and glared at the other teen across from him. Potter had his eyes closed and his breathing was even, as if he was sleeping but Draco knew better because he could see the corner of Potter's lips twitching as well as the movement behind his eyelids.

"Why are your friends not here?" His voice was quieter than he thought it would be but he shrugged it off. "I would have thought that Granger at least would have been jumping for joy to be back at school."

Potter opened one eye to look at him before sighing and opening both to regard him with what could only be described as suspicion. "Why do you even care Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged, holding out his hands palm up before letting them fall into his lap again. "I'm curious as to why you're alone. You're never alone."

"I'm alone more often than you think Malfoy." Was the tired reply before Potter shut his eyes again. "Not that you actually care but the answer to your question is that Ron and Hermione decided not to come back."

"Why?"

Once again Potter opened his eyes, but this time he sat up a little straighter and pulled his legs up so that he could rest his chin on his knees. "Hermione already took her NEWTS and passed with flying colors…she's already been offered a job at the Ministry. Ron's decided that he can't come back to the place where his brother was killed. He's taking the year off of everything completely to decide what he wants to do."

"Why did _you_ come back?" Draco asked after a moment of silence. "Not that it matters to me mind you."

Potter chuckled dryly. "Why don't you tell me why you're back and I might tell you why I am."

Draco stared darkly at Potter then looked away with a clenched jaw. "I'm under Ministry orders to be here… you should know that since you were at my trail a few months ago."

More silence followed and Draco thought for a moment that Potter was ignoring him, but when he looked back at the other teen he was just staring at Draco with a frown. "I wasn't there for that part of the trail. I was only there when they sentenced your father and declared you and your mother innocent."

"Well let me fill you in Potter…" The blond leaned forwards and spoke in a hard voice. "After they sent my father to Azkaban the Ministry decided that even though my mother and I were declared innocent we needed to be taught a lesson so to speak. They raided our home… took everything that they thought was Dark in nature… even some things that weren't. They tore our home apart and left it that way; left it for us to clean up. Then the Minister decided that we were to pay for the damage that other families went through during the War. Cleared out most of our family vault to do so and left us with just enough to get by for the next few years until I can get a job and start making money." He paused there to let everything sink in for the teen across from him, which by the looks of it was happening quicker than he thought it would. "The cherry on the cake though is the fact that they put me on probation after a very short re-trail, and part of that probation is to go back to Hogwarts and finish my education there. Right at the place I helped to bring down from the inside."

When he finished speaking Potter sat there with a blank look on his face for a few minutes, doing nothing but stare at Draco with his mouth slightly open and his eyes slightly wide. Then just as Draco was about to tell him to shut his mouth before a fly landed there Potter snapped to attention.

"Why did they do a re-trail on you? You were declared innocent… they can't do that."

Draco shook his head and scoffed. "When the Ministry decides that they want to do something to someone there is nothing that can be done. Someone high up on the food chain there wanted me to be punished for what I did and though it wasn't as severe as they wanted it to be… they still managed to make sure that my life would never be easy for the next five years."

Potter narrowed his eyes at him. "How so? No offence Malfoy but going back to Hogwarts for a single year of school isn't all that bad, even if you did help to bring it down."

"Well for starters I have a probation officer that I need to check in with every Sunday for the next year while I'm at Hogwarts. He's in charge of making sure that I haven't done any harmful magic while I'm there. If there is even a small amount of trace magic that is not deemed safe I will be shipped off to Azkaban. That means I can't take Defence Against the Dark Arts classes… which also means that I can't defend myself against anyone that wants to curse me for what I did." Draco paused for a moment to take a breath and calm himself down. "I have no reason why I'm telling you all of this…"

"Malfoy…"

Draco held up his hand and shook his head. "Don't okay? What's done is done and that's the end of it."

"If it was the end of it then why would you tell me? Clearly you wanted to tell someone." Potter said with a frown. "What they did to you is unfair and leaving you defenceless is wrong."

"They said that I left the school defenceless so it was a fair punishment."

"That's bollocks and you know it."

Draco shrugged and leaned back again. "Well there's nothing I can do about it."

Neither one of them spoke for a while after that which Draco was more than fine with. His mind kept going over the day they placed him on that stupid probation and the more he thought about it the angrier he became. It was just as well that Potter didn't speak because he would have wanted to lunge across and tear his throat out if he had. Not that it was Potters fault for the current state of his life, he just happened to be the only one here at the moment so he would be the target.

He watched as Potter cast his attention back to the window and the landscape rolling by as the train travelled towards the school. The other teens jaw was tight like he was trying not to say anything to Draco, and the blond was somewhat impressed that he hadn't yet; it wasn't as though Potter had a good track record with keeping his mouth shut around Draco.

While Potter was distracted keeping quiet Draco took a moment to really _look_ at the other wizard. At a glance Potter looked the same really; same black hair in an ever present mess of curls and cowlicks, the same horrid clothing which Draco was sure Potter wore because he had no style since everyone knew that he had the galleons to buy proper wizard attire. Draco's eyes skimmed over the torn denim, the oversized shirt and felt himself cringe just a little bit. Clothing was important if you wanted to make a good impression, at least Draco thought so as it was the way that he was brought up. Potter looked as though he came from sleeping under a bridge. Add to the fact that the other wizard was so small in stature anyways, the top of his head barely reaching up to the bottom of Draco's chin, and Potter looked like he was swimming in his clothes.

Draco turned his attention to Potters face and frowned after a moment because something was missing there. Potter's skin was as pale as ever and his eyes were still a startling shade of green… but now they were unobstructed.

"Did you give up on wearing glasses Potter or do you enjoy not being able to see anymore?" Draco asked.

"I don't need them anymore." Was the short reply.

"How?"

"Why does it even matter to you? Upset that you can't insult me over them anymore?"

"It was just a question… but you're partially right about the insults." Draco smirked at the other teenager, who responded by rolling his eyes.

"I'm taking a potion that repairs the nerves that were damaged."

The blond frowned. "There isn't any potion like that."

"It's new."

"Well of course it's new or I would have heard about it. Do you know how many witches and wizards would want to try it if it was something that anyone else even knew about Potter? The Potions Master that came up with the formula could become very rich."

Potter smirked. "I doubt he would care if he got rich over this Malfoy."

Draco raised his chin towards Potter at that. "How would you know? Did you even ask him? Or did you swear him to some secret pact?"

"I didn't swear him to some pact, what am I? A five year old?" Potter snorted and waved his hand in dismissal. "The Potion's Master that invented the potion doesn't even know that I'm using it."

Draco blinked at that. "So stealing is what the Chosen One does in his spare time now is it?"

"I didn't steal it!" Potter snapped. "He doesn't know that I'm using it because he's dead alright?"

"So you stole a dead wizards potion? That seems a little on the dark side of you ask me Potter."

Potter ran a hand through his hair to make it stand up even more. "Will you please just shut up already?"

"No…no I don't think I will." Draco smirked, he enjoyed making Potter squirm. "Does the Ministry know you're stealing dead peoples work? How do you know that this potion is even legal? You could get sent to Azkaban for using it you know… and how do you even know that this potion isn't designed to kill someone after a prolonged period of time using it?" He could see the anger in Potters face quite clearly by now and truth be told the red in his cheeks made him look a little less like a ghost.

"Why do you enjoy bugging the shite out of me all the time? Maybe you need to find a hobby or something to keep you occupied." Potter ground out through a tight jaw.

Draco smirked again. "Bothering the shite out of you _is_ my hobby Potter, didn't you know that?"

"Well will you please stop it?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why in Merlin's name not?"

"I enjoy it."

"You're insufferable!" Potter was almost yelling by now and it made Draco chuckle.

"Tell me who the Potions Master was and I'll stop bothering you."

"You'll stop bothering me?" Potter asked in a wary tone. "I don't believe you."

Draco held up his right hand and placed his left over his heart. "I swear that if you tell me who your dead Potions Master is I will stop bothering you for the rest of this train ride."

Potter stared at him with annoyance and hatred for a moment then looked away, pulling his knees back up to his chest and wrapping his thin arms around them. Draco waited for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Just tell me… who am I going to tell anyways?" He was going to try another approach to get what he wanted, just like a Malfoy should. "I've got no friends here and no one to talk to that would listen."

Silence answered him back.

"Scared Potter?"

That got the other wizards attention. "You wish Malfoy."

Draco couldn't help but grin at the comment. "Then tell me."

Potter ran his hand through his hair again and sighed. "It's Snape alright?"

"Snape?"

"Did I stutter?" Potter glared at him. "Not going to believe me on that one either?"

"It isn't a matter of believing that Snape could devise a potion like this… it's more a matter of believing that you could have found the recipe and made it yourself considering how inept at potions brewing you are."

"Well the agreement wasn't for me to tell you how I made it or got it… you just wanted to know who I got it from."

It was now Draco's turn to glare because even though he hated to be wrong…Potter was right; then again… when had a Malfoy ever played fair?

"Fine then. You keep those little bits of information to yourself… we'll see how good you are at keeping them a secret once we get to Hogwarts." Draco leaned back to get more comfortable before picking up his forgotten book again and opening up to the page he left off at.

"What do you mean by that?"

Draco shrugged. "Well I did say that I wouldn't bother you for the rest of the trip to Hogwarts… I never said anything about not bothering you while we're there now did I?"

The only answer he received back was something that sounded like an exasperated sigh and a growl. Draco smirked to himself behind his book; maybe this year wasn't going to be so bad after all.


End file.
